Harvard University named historian Drew Gilpin Faust as its first female president on Sunday, ending a lengthy and secretive search to find a successor to Lawrence Summers.
The seven-member Harvard Corporation elected Faust, a noted scholar on History of the American South and dean of Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, as the university’s 28th president.
“This is a great day, and a historic day, for Harvard,” James R. Houghton, chairman of the presidential search committee, said in a statement. “Drew Faust is an inspiring and accomplished leader, a superb scholar, a dedicated teacher, and a wonderful human being.”
Her selection is noteworthy given the heated debates over Summers’ comments that genetic differences between the sexes might help explain the lack of women in top science jobs.
Faust has been dean of Radcliffe since 2001, two years after the former women’s college was combined into the university as a research center with a mission to study gender issues.
Some professors have quietly groused that the 371-year-old university is appointing a fifth president who is not a scientist. No scientist has had the top job since James Bryant Conant retired in 1953; its last four have come from the fields of classics, law, literature and economics.
Faust is the first Harvard president who did not receive a degree from the university since Charles Chauncy, a graduate of Cambridge University, who died in office in 1762. She attended the University of Pennsylvania.
“Teaching staff turned to her constantly,” said Sheldon Hackney, a former president of the University of Pennsylvania and historian who worked closely with Faust. “She’s very clear. She has a sense of humor, but she’s very strong-minded. You come to trust in her because she’s so solid.”
小题1:Which might be the best title for the passage?
A．Harvard named its first female president.
B．History of Harvard University changed.
C．Debates on female equality ended.
D．Drew Gilpin Faust, a famous woman historian.小题2:Which is NOT true about Drew Gilpin Faust?
A．She is the 28th president of Harvard University.
B．She is a famous scholar from the American South.
C．She isn’t a graduate from Harvard University.
D．She was head of Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.小题3:The underlined word “groused” in the 6th paragraph means____ .
A．approved
B．commented
C．complained
D．indicated小题4:This passage probably appears in a____ .
A．biography
B．personal letter
C．research paper
D．newspaper report
小题1:
小题2:
小题3:
小题4:
题目分析：本文主要讲述了哈佛大学选出了历史上第一位女校长，以及各方面对此的反应。
小题1:A 主旨大意题。根据文章主题段第一段Harvard University named historian Drew Gilpin Faust as its first female president on Sunday, ending a lengthy and secretive search to find a successor to Lawrence Summers.可知本文主要讲述的是哈佛大学历史上第一个女校长Drew Gilpin Faust故A正确。
小题2:B 细节题。根据第二段a noted scholar on History of the American South and dean of Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study可知她是一个研究美国南方历史的学者，并不是说她来自美国南方。故B正确。
小题3:C 推理题。根据文章倒数第三段Some professors have quietly groused that the 371-year-old university is appointing a fifth president who is not a scientist. No scientist has had the top job since James Bryant Conant retired in 1953; its last four have come from the fields of classics, law, literature and economics.可知很多教授都在抱怨没有任命一个科学家来作为哈佛大学的校长，自从James Bryant Conant在1953年退休以后，哈佛就没有科学家做校长。故C正确。
小题4:D 推理题。本文属于新闻报告类短文，介绍了哈佛大学推选出的新的校长Drew Gilpin Faust。最可能出现在某篇新闻报告上，故D正确。
点评：本文主要讲述了哈佛大学选出了历史上第一位女校长，以及各方面对此的反应。本文考查细节题为主，细节题可以在文章中直接找到与答案有关的信息或是其变体。搜查信息在阅读中非常重要它包括理解作者在叙述某事时使用的具体事实、数据、图表等细节信息。在一篇短文里大部分篇幅都属于这类围绕主体展开的细节。做这类题一般采用寻读法即先读题，然后带着问题快速阅读短文，找出与问题有关的词语或句子，再对相关部分进行分析对比，找出答案。